


Persona 4...Kinda

by Two_Out_Of_Nine_Tails



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: F/F, F/M, Idk maybe everyone is ooc, M/M, Nanako is ooc too I guess, Teddie is ooc, Theodore is a bit ooc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 14:16:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20229223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Two_Out_Of_Nine_Tails/pseuds/Two_Out_Of_Nine_Tails
Summary: Ya like Persona 4? Well, this is Persona 4 except it's kinda not, instead of following the adventures of Chad- I mean Yu and his friends, this story follows the adventures of Yu's cousin and her friends with some familiar faces along the way.Another murder spree begins in the small rural town of Inaba, with the culprit of the last spree in prison the police are completely stumped, so it's up to Nanako and her group of misfits to solve this case: An a little to aggressive track star, a med student who lacks common sense, a baseball player, a egotistic king- I mean student council president, a delinquent who's really not a delinquent,  2 identical girls who are complete opposites, a dense law student, and a strange guy in a bear suit. They discover a world within the tv where the victims are being thrown, but even now that they know how the murder's are committed they have to find a motive and suspect. With the help of friends, strange men in a purple room, and the old investigation team Nanako is able to find out the truth, but unfortunately, the truth is right underneath her nose.NOTE: Set years in the future when Nanako is in high school and the old investigation team are all adults





	1. Welcome To The Velvet Room

**Author's Note:**

> Definitely going to change this chapter a lot when I have the chance, not really a fan of it.

The track meet was tiring, she had fallen asleep on the bench after. She finally opened her eyes, only being met with a purple floor instead of drought-ridden grass. Where was she? Did someone move her? If so who and where? She didn't want to raise her head, she was fearing what she would be met with: a murder, a kidnapper, or even worse- ugh she needs to stop worrying if someone wanted to hurt her they would have already and even if they did, she was fully capable of self-defense.

She slowly raised her head, an ache in her neck. She was met with the view of three men: on the right, a young boy wearing a purple uniform, in the middle was an old man with-wait is that his nose...it's very long, and finally, a man to her left who wore what she assumed was a bellboy uniform.

The old man's head rose, a smile plastered across his face. He spoke 5 words but they were enough to confuse her:

"Welcome to the velvet room."

She just stared at him, unable to answer. She quickly took in her surroundings, she was surrounded by only two colors: Purple and Blue, she was sitting on a firm purple couch, a small purple coffee table between her and the old man, he sat just across from her in a firm looking purple chair.

"I have summoned you within your dreams because your life is about to take a turn-" he looked down, flinging his hand out, cards spread out on the table "-And if you are not careful your future may be lost forever." she didn't respond. "I am here to make sure that doesn't happen, now tell me do you believe in fortune-telling?"

She actually did believe in fortune-telling, it was something her dad always joked about because she believed in it. The first time she had ever been told her fortune was when she was 7, the fortune teller was a blonde nice woman who apparently had known her big brother. She nodded.

"Well let's take a look into your future." He smiled then flipped over a card in the far corner. It showed what looked like the tower card "Hmm, The Tower in the upright position represents to immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent." He looked up from the cards, to glance at her. "Now the future beyond that is...well actually we should just leave it at that." He glanced down again "Just know that in the coming days you will enter a contract of some sort, after which you'll return here."

"Uh, master sorry to interrupt, but you have neglected to introduce yourself." The man in bell boy uniform spoke up.

"Ah, I'm terribly sorry about that. I'm Igor, and-" he gestured both his hands out to the men to either side of him "-these are my assistants-" he looked towards the bellboy "-Theodore-" he glanced to the other boy "-and this Victor." Victor shifted a bit on his feet, he didn't look comfortable being here.

"Pleased to meet you." Theodore greeted.

Victor just let out a "Hm.".

Then the room around her started to disappear as her eyes slid shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come attack me on Tumblr:  
[NikoIsNotOkay](https://friendlywriterboynamedniko.tumblr.com/)


	2. May 1st

"Hey, Nanako! Wake up!" the familiar voice said as she felt her body being shaken. Nanako's eyes snapped open being met with her best friend's blue ones.

"Huh? Jan?" Nanako still seemed groggy from her quick little nap. She rubbed her eyes, "What is it?"

"The track meet has been over for an hour...and your still here." Jan was crouched down a bit in front of where Nanako was sitting.

Nanako almost freaked out hearing that information. An hour had already passed? Oh no her dad was going to kill her, she should have been home by now. "Oh, crap." Nanako snatched up her bag. She stood up from the bench, digging into her bag to find her keys.

"Um, are you sure you can drive? You seem tired." Jan seemed concerned. She stood straight up, towering over Nanako.

"No, no I'm fine." she waved her hands at Jan.

Jan just smiled muttering "Well bye." Jan turned to make her way over to her mother's car.

Nanako smiled, finally pulling out her scooter keys. She swung bag over her shoulder as she broke into a sprint, making it to her scooter in record time. Most of the parking lot was empty, it gave the air an eerie feel. Nanako's scooter was the only one in motorcycle parking. It was an old scooter, it was a hand me down, it was her dad's but he then passed it to Nanako's big Brother who then gave it to Nanako when she was 16, her big brother had kept the scooter in good condition and cleaned it up good for her so you couldn't really tell it was over 15 years old.

Nanako tried kicking up the rusty kickstand, it took 3 tries to get it up. She started the scooter up, surprisingly for an old scooter it started on the first turn.

Now for the long way home.

\----------------------------------------------------

Halfway through the Inuba shopping district, her scooter gas light came on. Luckily she was only a little bit away from Moel gas station, it was 8 PM so hopefully, they were still open. She rode the scooter up to the pump closest to the street. An attendant quickly ran up.

"Regular?" she nodded at the attendant's question. Now that she wasn't moving she finally noticed how tired she was. "Um, are you alright ma'am?" the attendant asked.

"Oh, um, yeah I'm fine but thanks for the concern." Nanako smiled at him, she had to admit the gas station attendant was pretty good looking which made her a bit nervous.

He smiled, he finished filling up the scooter. She quickly grabbed some money out of her bag putting into the attendant's hand. Their hands brushing a bit, she tried not to blush. She kicked her kickstand back up.

She quickly made her way out of the gas station parking lot. She took her hand off the handlebar for a moment to cup her head, as a headache split through her head. She pulled over, the headache was probably just from her needing to sleep but there's no way she could drive like this. She dragged scooter with her as she walked, her headache only lasted a minute but she still didn't feel comfortable driving. She was only a block away from her house so she felt safe walking.

Inuba was quiet at night, nobody would hang out at the shopping district at night since nothing stays open that late except one tiny bar. It was a little boring in Inuba, maybe that's just part of its charm. Nanako glanced behind her, spotting a car slowly coming up the hill behind her, she ignored it. It's pretty safe in Inuba, there hadn't really been that many problems since the serial kidnapping/murder case. So that's why her father didn't have that much of a problem with her coming home from track meet by herself.

"Hey, Nana-chan!" A familiar voice called out. She looked behind her, the car was pulled over and a man was waving her over. She didn't come over, her dad told her not to talk to strangers. The man opened his door then shut it and turned towards Nanako. She would have already been running normally by now but something about the way the man moved seem familiar.

"Huh? Oh, Yosuke!" Nanako greeted, Yosuke smiled. No wonder his voice was familiar...and no wonder she also didn't recognize him right away, she hadn't seen Yosuke since he graduated Uni and that was 3 years ago. He got married a little after Uni so he doesn't visit town much, he also had changed physically quite a bit his orange unkempt hair was now short and black. "Wow, it's been a while."

"Yeah it has, but I'm actually moving here," Yosuke explained. "Um, hey can I use the phone at your house? Mine's dead."

"Oh yeah sure." She smiled back at him. "So....you found a job here yet?"

"Mmhm, I'm taking over as the Junes manager."

"Huh, really?" Nanako seemed surprised.

They spent the rest of the walk, in silence.

\----------------------------------------------------

"I'm home!" She kicked her shoes off with Yosuke, there were 3 other pairs of shoes.

They walked into the living room. "Hey, Nana-chan!" Chie greeted, she was sitting at the table still in her police uniform, her hat beside her. Nanako's father sat across from Chie, and-

"Oh, Big bro!" Nanako says happily, she had no idea he was visiting. She quickly ran over to him, giving him a hug.

"Hi, Nanako." He hugged back.

"Who the hell is that?" her father gestured towards Yosuke, who was still getting his shoes off which he failed at and fell against the wall.

Chie gasped, "Is that Yosuke?"

Yosuke walked in, "Yeah because a clumsy man automatically has to be Yosuke, sure makes sense, Chie." Yosuke rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Yu asked.

"Oh I'm taking over my dad's job, he's retiring," Yosuke explained, going over to the home phone.

"Ohhh, so the prince is becoming the king?" Chie chuckled.

"Hey, Dojima can I use your phone reak quick?" Yosuke asked, totally ignoring Chie.

"Sure," he answered quickly, turning his attention to Nanako. "How was the meet? Sorry I couldn't make it."

"Oh it was pretty good, still can't beat Jan's times though." She sighed, sitting on the floor across from Yu.

"Well you can't blame yourself, that girl has genetics on her side." She turned to Yu "Have you seen that girl? She's as tall as Dojima."

Yu looked confused "Is she...from here?"

"Oh, no she's from America" Chie answered.

"Hm," Yu nodded.

"I wish I was as tall as dad!" Nanako grumbled crossing her arms.

Dojima smiled, "Yeah, too bad you got your mother's height." Nanako's dad used to not be able to mention her mother but now he is over 10 years later casually mentioning her in conversation, it made Nanako smile. She looked at the food on the table: sushi, it was nearly all gone.

"Did you eat without me?" Nanako asked, slightly offended.

Dojima sighed, "Sorry, I assumed you were going to eat at Aiya." Nanako didn't blame him, after all, she always ate at Aiya with Jan after a track meet. She just left the track meet to late to catch dinner with Jan, speaking of which why was she late? She was pretty sure she had fallen asleep but she also remembers talking to someone. Huh. Also, it was quite weird that her father didn't comment on her being late.

Nanako shook her head, "It's fine, I'll just eat leftovers." Getting up from her spot to head towards the fridge, slowing down a bit to eavesdrop on Yosuke's conversation.

"It's just a minor issue, I might have to ask Dojima for help but I think I'll be able to fix, okay, hm, okay, love yo-" whoever was on the other end hanged up before Yosuke could finish. Yosuke sighed. Nanako pulled out yesterday's dinner.

"Hey Yosuke, do you want some food?" Nanako asked, he probably hadn't eaten since he left home.

"Hm?" Yosuke turned around to face her "Oh, yeah. Thanks." he walked over to the counter to share the food with Nanako.

Dojima seemed uncomfortable with the silence in the other half of the room, he sighed and pressed the power button on the tv remote. The news was on, they seemed to be interviewing a middle-aged man, he was either a lawyer or a businessman, Nanako wasn't sure. "Mr. Ito, we were wondering what exactly is your reason for retiring?"

"Ito?" Chie looked over to Dojima, "Hey don't we have an intern named Ito down at the police department?"

Dojima nodded. Mr. Ito responded to the reporter's question "I have decided to retire to spend more time with my family." Nanako thought it was a pretty reasonable response, as she and Yosuke munched on yesterday's leftover.

"But there's been a rumor your retiring because you're not getting many cases." the reporter stated.

Mr. Ito's face saddened a bit as if he recalled a sad memory, "While that is tr-"

"Is that because of the fact that you were the prosecutor in the Inuba serial murder case?" Another reporter interrupted.

Her father's face shifted a bit, Nanako's father was close to that case...after all his co-worker and good friend was the killer. Mr. Ito ignored the question and just responded by walking off the stage.

Her father sighed, feeling awkward, Dojima was always uncomfortable when that case was mentioned. Yu broked the silence, jumping up from the ground "Well I should get going." grabbing his jacket from the couch arm.   
Chie grabbed her phone checking the time, "I should get going too."

"Don't be late for work," Dojima said to Chie as she got up.

"Oh come on when's the last time I've been late?" Chie asked chuckling, only be met with Dojima's stern face, "Oh, yeah don't answer that." Chie looked over to Yu who was now standing by Yosuke and Nanako. "But what about Yu? I bet 1,000 yen he's late for his first day."

Nanako turned to her big bro "What?"

Dojima got off the floor, "Oh yeah I totally forgot to tell you, your cousin transferred here, he's even my partner."

Nanako gasped out of happiness, throwing her arms around her big bro. "Yay, I can't believe it took you this long to move here," she said a little aggravated. She pulled away and smiled at Yu. "So have you found an apartment or are you living with us?" She asked hoping for the latter.

"Oh, I've found an apartment, I didn't want to get in your guy's way," Yu explained, Nanako let out a sad sigh. Yu smiled at Nanako "I've got to go, if Dojima's isn't pushing me too hard tomorrow I might be able to eat dinner with you two if you want."

"Hey!" Dojima blurted from the living room.

"Of course!" Nanako said happily.

Yu looked towards a Yosuke "Do you need a ride?"

"Yeah, do you mind?" Yosuke accepted the offer.

"Not at all," Yu responded getting car keys out of his jacket.

"Bye," Dojima called from the living room.

"Bye, big bro," Nanako said. Yu smiled, as he put on his shoes on.

Chie was in the kitchen now too, leaning on the table, texting someone on her phone. "Well I think it's my time to leave," Chie sighed, giving a quick smile to Nanako. She quickly puts on her shoes and walks out the door, just behind Yosuke and Yu.

Dojima brought dirty dishes into the kitchen, he gently sets the dishes in the sink. He turned his attention to Nanako.

"So why were you late?" Her father asked

"Um." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come attack me on Tumblr:  
[NikoIsNotOkay](https://friendlywriterboynamedniko.tumblr.com/)


	3. May 2nd

"Hey, wait up," Nanako heard the voice behind her, glancing back to see Jan running towards her with an umbrella.

"Hey, Jan." Nanako smiled at her, as Jan caught up with her.

"Did you make it home fine?" Jan then lowered her voice, "Did your dad freak out on you?"

"I made it home fine, and no not really, I just told him I had to get gas and also felt too tired to drive home," Nanako responded.

Jan rolled her eyes "Man I wish my mom would believe me when I made up stuff like that." Nanako was about to tell her that she didn't make it up, but she didn't want to worry Jan so she didn't say anything. "So are you ready for exams on the 6th?"

Nanako loved studying so she was usually prepared for exams but still got major anxiety. "Yeah, but I'm also a little scared." she sighed, "You?"

"I haven't studied yet because of Track," Jan sighed too. Jan never paid much attention to school but gave the most attention out of all the track team to track. It was impressive. Her school work was bad enough to get kicked off the team but she did so good in Track that the captain never thought of kicking her out.

"Well how about we study so you don't have to cram?" Nanako asked she hoped she would say yes, Nanako had been bored the whole week. Jan had practiced all week for the meet yesterday so Nanako didn't get a chance to hang out with her at all that week.

"Hm," Jan seemed to think for a moment "Sure, my mom probably wouldn't mind, she's been yelling at me about my grades for a while anyway."

Nanako smiled, happy at the fact that she finally got to hang out with her friend.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nanako was on the rooftop eating her lunch, by herself. Jan was called to the 'king's throne room', which was the school's slang for "She was called to the student council room by the student council president". If you were called to the student council room it usually means that you were being offered a spot on the student council or you're under suspicion of bullying. She doubted Jan could get on student council judging by her school work no offense to her friend, but then again the latter wouldn't make sense, Jan would never bully anybody.

"Hey, did you save me some food!" Jan called as she ran up to Nanako.

Nanako grabbed extra food she made for Jan out of her bag, "So, how did it go?" Nanako asked as she handed Jan her food. She always brought Jan food because Jan never brought lunch.

"Some girl made up a rumor about me," Jan sighed plopping down next to Nanako.

"What?" Nanako looked surprised. "Was it a bad rumor?"

"It's no big deal, no need to worry, the king surprisingly believed me over the girl," Jan sighed again, the king referred to the student council president.

"Okay, I guess it's fine then," Jan just stared at Nanako, "Well anyways, what do you want to study later?"

Jan was already chomping on food, "Well I'm struggling in math the most," Jan talked with her mouth full.

Nanako didn't say anything about Jan's impoliteness, "Well good! I'm pretty decent at math!"

"Mm-hm," Jan rolled her eyes, "Yes Miss top 10 is only 'decent' at math."

Nanako rolled her eyes.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jan laid down her pencil, stretching out her hand. "I think I'm done." she sighed laying completely flat on the floor.

"Is this really to much work for you?" Nanako asked not looking up from her studying material.

"Nah, just bored, can we go out now?" She sat back up, stretching her arms out. "I'm a bit hungry."

Nanako put down her pencil, stretching a bit "Yeah, we should go to Aiya." Nanako was pretty hungry, she must have not noticed she was hungry during the 2 hours of studying.

Jan grumbled, "Can't we go to that American style restaurant?" Nanako sighed, she didn't like American style food, but she did feel bad for Jan, must be hard to grow up with American food then move to a country with way different food. Unfortunately, it was Jan's turn to pick where they eat so Nanako had no choice but to go. She also felt a bit sad because she was supposed to eat dinner wither her brother and father, but she doesn't mind eating with Jan.

"Sure," Nanako pretended like she was happy about Jan's choice.

Jan smiled, "Sounds good!" Nanako got up as the home phone rang. Nanako quickly answered it as Jan got up and started to pack up.

"Hello?" Nanako greeted, she already had an idea of who it was.

"Hello, Nanako," Yu greeted she had a feeling it was him. "Can you bring some clothes for your dad?"

"Oh, sure!" Nanako agreed right away, the police department wasn't far from the restaurant. "Bye."

"Bye."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, you mind if I stay out here?" Jan asked, Nanako thought it was a little wired but decided not to question it. She turned away from Jan to walk into the police department, bag in hand.

The police department of the small town was never that busy, well at least not anymore, back in 2011 the place was bustling. The reception area wasn't busy at all, 3 people sitting in chairs, a receptionist sitting behind her desk, and a blue-haired man leaning against the reception desk he seemed to be looking at his phone and had a bag of food hanging in his hand.

"Oh, hey, Kou!" She greeted her big bro's friend. Kou looked up from his phone. She -+turned to the receptionist "I came to deliver clothes to Detective Dojima." she turned back around to Kou who now had his phone put away.

"Hey, Nanako-chan," Kou smiled as he spoke. The two ran into each other at the police department a lot, Nanako was always dropping off food and clothes for her father while Kou did the same thing for his wife. "I heard Yu's back in town finally," He sighed, "But he hasn't talked to me yet." Nanako assumed that Kou's wife notified him of his friend's return.

Nanako sighed, "I know, he's been busy with his job lately," all of big bro's friends complain that he never comes to see them when he comes to Inuba. Nanako doesn't think this is because he's busy, she thinks that it's because he's becoming a bit anti-social, but luckily he still seems to socialize with his close friends.

"Man it must suck to have a busy job like that," Kou sighs, he glances back. His wife is standing in the hallway not too far away, she was talking to a woman who looks to be American. "Oh, there's Chie!" Chie was chatting happily to the woman, whatever they were talking about, Chie seemed very enthusiastic about it.

The woman smiled at Chie and quickly walked away. Chie turned towards Nanako and Kou. She walked up to them, a smile still on her face. "Hey Kou-Kun," they gave a quick hug, "Hey Nana-chan," she greeted Nanako, as she took the bag of food from her husband.

"Who was that?" Kou inquired, probably talking about the woman Chie was talking to.

"Just a reporter," she responded, "Hey, Nanako if that's for Dojima I can give it to him for you."

Nanako thought for a moment, she's already been in here for a while so she might as well, she's afraid of what would happen if she lets Jan go without food for too long. Girl gets aggressive if she doesn't get meat for awhile. "Sure!" she happily passed the bag to Chie. "Thanks, bye!" she bowed her head a bit and walked to the exit. Kou and Chie continued to talk as Nanako left.

Jan greeted her immediately, "Finally! Let's go! I'm starving!"

\--------------------------------------------

Nanako had to admit that the restaurant wasn't that bad, but she would have preferred Aiya. Jan quickly dug into her food as Nanako poked her food, Jan was done with all her food when Nanako had barely taken a bite. It looks like she'll have to bring the food home.

"You need your bill?" the employee, who Nanako swore she's seen before. The boy was not the waiter they had throughout the meal and she had never seen him working here before, in fact, his uniform was completely different than the rest of the wait staff. His uniform was a purple color, unlike the restaurant's usual pale blue.

Jan looked a bit confused, "Where's our waitress?"

"Oh, she got sick." Nanako didn't feel comfortable with that response.

Jan groaned a bit, "Can we get the bill?" The tempory-waiter nodded and walked away. Jan looked over to Nanako "You starting to feel sick yet?" Jan joked.

Nanako realized she hadn't been listening, "Oh um, no."

"Hm," Jan nodded, she seemed to be thinking about something. "Did you hear those rumors?"

Nanako did hear the rumors, it was hard not to. Inaba didn't have many rumors and if there was one it spread quickly, for example, it took only a day for the whole town to know about Kou and Chie getting together mostly because of the importance of Kou's family. But the rumor Jan was referring to was a rumor that resurfaced from 2011...the rumor of the Midnight Channel. "The Midnight Channel? Yeah, what about it?"

"Have you tried it?" Jan asked Nanako rolled her eyes she never believed in that rumor.

"No."

"Well, you should!" Jan paused, Nanako could tell she was about to tell a story. "Well, a kid in my homeroom said that he saw the midnight channel yesterday."  
"Wait it rained yesterday?" Nanako asked Jan ignored her.

"Anyway according to the rumor he should have been seeing his soulmate but said that the person on the TV was an old man," Jan talked passionately about the kid's story.

"So...his soulmate is an old man?" Nanako looked confused.

"That's not even the weirdest part!" Jan exclaimed, "A girl in the class told the kid that she saw the same man!"

Nanako leaned back in her chair sighing, she was confused. "So let me get this str-"

Before Nanako could finish the waiter laid down the bill on their table, "Your bill." As the waiter walked away, Nanako thought about how he came out of nowhere.

"What's my part?" Nanako sighed, taking out her wallet, hopefully, her 4000 Yen would cover it.

Jan skimmed the receipt, "Hm, 3400 Yen." Nanako groaned that means she'll only have 600 yen for the rest of the week, hopefully, she'll make it because the last time she ran out of money days before she could get her allowance and had to ask her dad for a bit of money, he gave her the money but still spent what felt like an hour lecturing her. Geez, she needs to get a part-time job and stop mooching off her father, then again the last time she had a part-time was...well...horrible. The last job she had was babysitting the devil-spawn that was Taiki Nagase, Taiki inherited all of his mother's personality ...unfortunately.

She sighed laying down her money, Jan did the same. Jan was about to grab the bill to bring it up but Nanako put her hand up, "I'll get it," Nanako offered to take the bill. Walked up to the front register as Jan walked to the exit. Jan stopped for a moment, a worrying look on her face this caught Nanako so she stopped for a moment. Jan looked straight at Nanako and gestured her head to the right. Nanako looked to her right surprised to see the waiter leaning against the wall, staring her down from across the restaurant. Nanako didn't look as worried as Jan, mostly because the waiter didn't seem that threatening. He had dark hair and blue eyes, his eyes looked innocent and non-threatening, also didn't help he was small like really small like he was probably the same height as Nanako, _he was very non-threatening._ This is why Nanako didn't mind his staring.

She broke her eyes from the boy to give the girl at the register her bill. "Hey, Akira-San." Nanako knew the girl a bit, the girl always struck up with Nanako when she came to the restaurant. Akira seemed nice, but Nanako didn't know much about her other than the fact that Akira was a culinary student. Akira smiled but looked confused as she took the bill from Nanako.

"Um, Hi Nanako-Chan," Akira stared at the bill in her hands, but still took the money off of it.

"What is it?" Nanako thought Akira's reaction was really weird.

"Well, it's just that...um, who gave you your bill?" Akira asked as Nanako stared at her confused.

"That dark-haired boy," Nanako responded, it just made Akira look more confused. "The one in the purple uniform," Akira just stared at her. "I'm pretty sure he's n-"

"We haven't had any new wait staff in months and-" Akira's eyebrows furrowed, "-we don't have any male wait staff."

\-------------------------------------------------

"Are you serious?" Jan's voice was full of confusion.

"Yeah, it's weird isn't it?" Nanako just got done explaining her conversation with Akira to Jan.

"So who was he then?" Jan asked Nanako responded by shrugging. She honestly didn't know. "You think he's a creep or a stalker? That way he was staring at you was just creepy!" Jan visibly shivered. Nanako shook her head. "Huh?"

"He doesn't seem creepy to me," Nanako responded making Jan stare at her, confused. Nanako slid open the front door of her house, they stepped in sliding their shoes off.

"He was creepy to me! What kind of guy just pretends to be a waiter!" Jan exclaimed, she seen more concerned about this situation than Nanako.

"What?!" A voice exclaimed, Nanako and Jan both jumped. Nanako automatically recognized the voice, her big bro was standing upright by the kitchen table a look of concern on his face.

"Oh hi, big bro," She greeted Yu.

His face didn't change, "What were you guys just talking about?"

"Why are you here?" Nanako ignored Yu's question not wanting to involve him, it's a situation where Yu's would have to report to Nanako's dad and her dad would make a bigger deal about it.

Her big bro just sighed and put his hand up to rub his temple, "Please just answer my question."

Jan sensing her friend's predicament casually stepped into the conversation. "Oh, we were just talking about this movie...that um came out recently."

Yu stared at Jan for a moment, and Nanako for sure thought he didn't believe her. "Anyway your father sent me to check on you. Have you had dinner yet?" Yu asked.

"Yeah," Nanako replied, Yu nodded.

"Well, I should get going then." He hugged Nanako before walking out.

Jan and Nanako sat in silence.... "No offense but your brother's weird." Jan broke the silence

Nanako giggled a bit, "Yes, yes, he is." Jan let out a laugh.

Jan suddenly looked down at her phone "Ah, looks like I can't stay."

"Your mom bothering you?" Nanako asked.

"Nah, Mr. Konishi is having me come to work early tomorrow." Jan sighed stuffing her phone in her pocket.

\-------------------------------

Nanako was sitting in the living room of the house, completely alone. It didn't faze Nanako being home alone, she's been doing it ever since she was 5, but something felt eerie tonight. There was rain pouring outside but besides that, the house was completely quiet, she didn't even have the sound of the TV since she turned it off to focus on her homework. She picked up her phone which was on the floor next to her, the time displayed on it was "11:58" wow it was late... she should get to sleep. But then something went off...everything was in the right order for that rumor. Of course, Nanako didn't believe the stupid rumor, but it still bothered her what if it was true? And she was the stupid one?

She sighed the time was now "11:59" she sighed, walking up to the TV and plopping down in front of it like she did when she was little. She waited in complete silence except for the rain, the sound was soothing. She sat there for a bit, she checked her phone again... "12:00", she rolled her eyes and thought to herself "_Well I guess it is jus-"_

The TV erupted into static, it startled Nanako, she fell back a bit. "What the hell." She whispered to herself, then an image appeared on the screen. Just like Jan's story, there was an old man. He looked familiar to Nanako but she couldn't put a finger on it then she noticed... the man was shaking and crying, his face in his palms, his face twisted in sadness.

Nanako reached her hand toward the tv but before she could a sharp pain went through her head and a voice spoke in her head, it was a woman's voice.

"I am thou," Nanako's grabbed her head in pain, "Thou art I," She groaned in pain, she dug her nails into her head to dull the pain but it did nothing, "Thou are the one who opens the door," The pain got even worse, but only for a moment, the next the pain went as suddenly as it came. She looked up, the image on the tv was gone, but the urge to move her hand to it wasn't.

She went to brush her fingers against the tv but instead of being met with hard glass, her fingers went right through. She somehow manages to calm her nerves enough to stick more of her arm in, _what the hell. _She felt empty space inside. She felt fear rush in her as she heard talking just outside the front door, shit, that must be her dad! She quickly yanked her arm out as her dad and big bro walked in, she couldn't keep her balance and fell hitting her head against the living room table.

Her father and brother ran over to her immediately, not even stopping to take off their shoes. "Nanako!" Her father exclaimed, dropping to the floor. He looked her over, "Are you alright?" he asked. Her brother was crouching next to her, he was looking at her head where she had hit it. Nanako couldn't answer, her brain couldn't find the ability to form words, in fact, she couldn't get her mind to work at all.

They stared at her for a second. She found the ability to speak but was only able to mumble two words "The...TV..." the words fell out before she could think. Her brother and father glanced at each other, probably thinking she was going crazy. But there was something on her brother's face...realization she didn't know why he had that look but he did.

Her father sighed, "We should put her in bed, she seems sick." Her brother nodded. She was helped off the floor by her father. She stumbled a bit on her legs. Why did her body feel so weird? Her vision blurred then blackened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come attack me on Tumblr:  
[NikoIsNotOkay](https://friendlywriterboynamedniko.tumblr.com/)


	4. May 3rd part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's horrible, but im tired it's 1:30 am please forgive me will edit in the afetrnoon

Nanako woke up on her bed, her head didn’t hurt as much as it did last night. She only remembered seeing an old man on the midnight channel and then...then...she stuck her arm into the TV. That couldn’t have happened, she did hit her head pretty hard, after all, maybe she just imagined it happening...but what about that voice? Nanako shook her head, all that had to be her imagination.

She stumbled out of her room, she still felt tired. All her stuff was still on the living room table and floor. She noticed her father’s coat and shoes were gone, he must have had to go to work early. She picked up her phone, from where it sat in front of the TV. She had one missed call from Jan.  _ Huh? She should be at work. _

She pressed call back, Jan picked up on the second ring. “Hey Nanako,” Her friend greeted. 

“Hey, why did you call me?” Nanako asked.

“Oh, me, Shin, and Nakajima, are hanging out so I was wondering if you would want to join?” Jan asked Nanako pulled her phone away from her ear to look at the time, it was noon.

“Sure, where?” Nanako responded.

“Well half of the shopping district is closed down, so we’re gonna get some food then hang out at the flood plain instead,” Jan replied, half of the shopping district was closed? She wondered what happened. “I’ll come to pick you up.”

“Oh, okay,” Nanako said happily. Hanging out with Jan had to be way better than studying all day. “Bye.”

“See ya,” Jan sounded happy.

She hung up and laid her phone on the table.

She looked out the window into the foggy morning.

\-------------------------

It took her 20 minutes to change from her school uniform to her more comfortable Sunday clothes, she skipped breakfast since she was eating lunch with Jan and her friends. Not long after she walked into the living room she heard a knock. She quickly made her way to the door, she slid it open. She was greeted by Jan, Shin, and Nakajima. She had known Nakajima for a while, he was one of her brother’s friends. Shin, on the other hand, Nanako didn’t know him that well, she knew he was Jan’s cousin and Nakajima’s best friend but that’s it. 

“Hey, Jan!” She greeted her friend, she turned to the others. “Nakashima and Nakajima-san!” she greeted the boys.

“Nana-Chan!” Nakajima greeted back, Nanako was surprised to see he had his glasses on. Usually, he either didn’t have them at all or hanging off of his shirt.

“Hello,” Nakashima greeted in a dull tone.

“Let’s get going!” Jan called out. Nanako locked and shut the door behind her. The group started down the hill towards the shopping district. 

“I thought you were going into work early?” Nanako asked Jan when the group was halfway down the hill.

“Oh Konishi Liquor is in the part of the shopping district that was blocked off,” Jan replied.

Nanako thought for a moment, why was part of the shopping district closed? “Hey, do you know why it’s blocked off?” Nanako asked her friend.

Nakajima responded instead of Jan, “When I went to go to baseball practice this morning, I walked through that area, there were cops everywhere including your father and-” he looked over at Nanako, “Hey Nanako, is your cousin living here now?”

Did her brother literally tell no one that he was moving here? “Yes, he's working with my dad too.”

Nakajima looked a bit sad, “I thought so I saw him there with your father. But I can’t believe he hasn’t said anything to me yet!”

“He’s just busy,” Nanako used the excuse. 

“But still he could have at least notified us. It’s not just me, I told Ai and Daisuke that I saw him, they were surprised too.” Nakajima sighed. Nanako had a feeling that Ai was going to kill Yu when she saw him.

They were on the flat part of the street now, approaching the MOEL gas station. They could see the usual gas station attendant in the distance, he was in front of a car and seemed to be saying something to the driver. “I know Kou sa-” Nanako was interrupted by the yelp of the gas station attendant, the car pulled out of the gas station fast making the boy jumped out of the way of the car, landing face-first into the concrete. 

It only took a few seconds for the group to reach the hurt Gas Station Attendant, Jan made it to him first “Are you alright?” Jan asked.

He lifted his head from the ground and smiled at Jan, “I’m just fine!” he exclaimed jumping up from the ground. The group stared at the boy, he was almost hit by a car yet he seems unfazed by it.

“What was that about?” Nakajima asked the Attendant.

The attendant turned to Nakajima, “Oh, we just got into a small argument,” the attendant answered.

“What was this small argument about to where he tried to hit you with their car?” Jan asked.

“He didn’t pay,” The attendant responded as if it wasn’t a big deal.

Nanako finally spoke up, “Do you need us to call the cops?”

The attendant smiled at her, “No, it’s fine! They seem busy.”

Nakashima chimed in with his monotone voice, “Are you sure?” The attendant nodded.

“Well then, let’s go,” Nakajima spoke.

“Wait!” The attendant stopped the group before they could leave.

“Hmm?” Nanako turned back around to look at the attendant. He was pulling a paper out of his pocket.

“If you guys are heading toward Aiya I was wondering if you put this on the board for me?” he handed the paper to Nanako. “I can’t leave the gas station unattended.” Nanako took the paper without a question, the attendant let out a quick thanks and bowed his head before rushing over to a car that pulled in.

Jan sighed as the group walked away from Moel, “What?” Nanako looked over to her friend.

“You're too nice, you know that right?” Her friend sighed.

Nanako rolled her eyes, “He seemed to have his hands full, I felt bad,” She responded.

Her friend rolled her eyes, “Mm-hm.” Jan leaned over a bit to see the paper in Nanako’s hand. “What’s that paper anyway?”

Nanako looked down at the paper, it was a part-time job posting. “It’s for a part-time job,” Nanako responded.

Nakashima spoke again “About time, I only ever see him working there.”

Jan nodded, “Does anyone else think it’s weird that he works there EVERY day, does he ever get a break?” The whole group seemed to agree. They approached the board. Nanako didn’t have anything to hang the paper with so she jammed the paper between the wood.

“Come on, I’m starving!” Jan started to walk towards Aiya.

“Wait,” Nanako exclaimed, a part-time job caught her eye...babysitting. She quickly snapped a picture of the posting then moved quickly to catch up with her friends. They could now see the police tape blocking off part of the shopping district. Aiya was luckily not blocked off. They all stopped.

Jan was staring at the blocked off part that was filled with police officers and civilians, “Huh, wonder what’s happening?”

“Appears to be something serious,” Nakashima responded. This made Nanako wonder...was someone murdered? It was pretty unlikely but Nanako still felt it could be true.

\--------------------------------------

It didn't take long for them to order and get their food, they walked out of Aiya. Her brother and a police officer were standing just outside discussing something, her brother immediately noticed the group. Nakajima’s face immediately lit up from seeing his old friend, “Naru-”

“Nanako shouldn’t you be at home, aren’t you sick?” Her brother interrupted Nakajima’s with his concerned voice. 

“I feel fine!” she responded, he still looks concerned.

“Huh, well anyways, you kids should get going,” Her brother didn’t seem convinced.

“Bye!” She waved to her brother as he slipped back underneath the police tape.

Nakajima sighed, “He didn’t even acknowledge me.”

“So that’s Yu Narukami, huh? The friend you’ve talked about for years, Shu?” Nakashima asked his friend.

“Yeah, but he’s usually friendlier,” Nakajima responded.

Nanako sighed, “Yeah.”

\----------------------------------------

They were walking down the floodplain when umbrella’s had to be pulled out. Jan sighed, unsuccessfully trying to open her umbrella. This was bad for Nanako, considering Nakajima and Nakashima were sharing Nakajima’s umbrella which they barely fit under together, and Nanako hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella. So here she was getting soaking wet as her friend fumbled with her umbrella.

Jan managed to open her umbrella just as they set their food on the table, which didn’t help considering a roof was now blocking the rain. Nanako loved eating outside, she just wished that it didn’t rain whenever she had a picnic. Speaking of rain...she was suddenly reminded of last night’s events. She glanced over at her friend who was eating, “Hey, Jan?”

“Hm?” Jan looked over to Nanako, she currently had food in her mouth.

“Do you remember what we were talking about yesterday?” Nanako asked her friend.

Jan swallowed her food, “You mean that weird waiter?”

“What?” Nakajima looked up from his food, speaking before Nanako could get a word out.

Jan turned her attention to Nakajima, “You know that American style restaurant?” the boys nodded. “Well me and Nanako had this creepy waiter yesterday,” Jan stated, Nakashima gave her a weird look.

“That’s it? Also, it’s quite rude to call people ‘creepy’,” Nakashima remarked.

Jan rolled her eyes, “That’s not all! Turns out the guy didn’t even work there!” Jan exclaimed, the boys just stared at Jan, confused. “Why do I even try?” Jan mumbled. 

Nanako finally spoke up, “No, I meant the other thing we talked about yesterday.” 

Jan stared at Nanako blankly before her eyes lit up, Jan nodded. “Let’s talk about it later,” Jan said, the boys gave them weird looks. Nanako hoped that Jan’s reaction meant that she experienced it too. 

Nanako’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out, Jan looked over at her “Who is it?”. Nanako checked her lock screen:

**Teddie: ** Hey Nana-chan

**Teddie: **Can we hang out today?  
“It’s Teddie,” Nanako smiled, Teddie was the only one of her brother’s friends that she hung out with, but that might just be because the rest of them were adults while Teddie didn’t seem to ever mature past a teenager.

**Nanako:** Sure! Is it fine if I invite Jan?  
**Teddie:** ya

When Nanako looked over to her friend to ask her if she wants to hang out Teddie and her she noticed Jan was already done eating. It scared Nanako at how fast her friend eats, it’s such a non-human speed to eat food at. Nanako cleared her throat, “Hey Jan do you want to hang out with me and Teddie?”

Jan set down her utensils, “Maybe, I might have to ask my mom.” Jan sighed, Jan had what people call a ‘Helicopter mom’.

Nanako saw Nakajima’s eyes got big, he quickly scrambled to get his phone out. “Hm? What’s wrong Shu?” Nakashima asked.

“I forgot to call my mom today, she might kill me!” Nakajima quickly dialed a phone number. He got up and ran to a tree not far from them.

Nanako, Jan, and Nakashima sat in silence for a moment. Jan finally spoke up.

“Wait isn’t Shu-san 22?”

\-----------------------------------

Nanako and Jan were walking down the street to Teddie’s apartment, Nanako had leftover food in her hands for him, if no one brought him proper food he would just live off Ramen and tea. Jan had been texting her mother the whole time while sighing, Nanako was holding Jan’s umbrella over both their heads, it was pretty hard considering Jan’s height and wide shoulders. The rain hit the street around them(And part of Jan’s shoulder). Nanako looked around at the neighborhood, nobody was out during the rain, so it was mostly a ghost town. Teddie’s building was just in front of them. 

She saw something at the corner of her eye, something blue. She glanced over there was a blue butterfly slowly flying a few feet away, she stopped walking for a moment. What the hell? She blinked, the butterfly disappeared. Jan was distracted and walked out into the pouring rain, she turned to Nanako. “What?” She asked, quickly stepping under the umbrella.

Nanako stared at the spot where the butterfly had just been for a couple of seconds, “Nothing.”

\-------------------------------------

Nanako gently knocked on the apartment door, as Jan struggled to close the umbrella. They heard quick steps, as the door was soon opened.

“Hey, Nana-Chan!” Teddie greeted her.

“Hi, Teddie!” Nanako smiled at Teddie. Jan finally managed to close her umbrella as they walked into Teddie’s apartment. Nanako gave her leftover lunch to Teddie.

“Thanks,” Teddie laid it on a counter.

“So hows your day Teddie,” Nanako asked as she and Jan sat down on his couch.

Teddie responded quickly, “Amazing! Did you now Yosuke has moved back! He’s even my manager!” Teddie seemed pretty excited, then he sighed. “But then he told me Sensei also moved back!”

Nanako got confused, she sortaunderstood not telling Shu, Kou, Ai, and Daisuke, but Teddie? Teddie was one of her brother’s best friends. She felt a bit concerned for him. 

“Oh, yeah, he’s been very busy, you know with his job and stuff,” Nanako laughed it off a bit.

The tv made noise in the background, it was on the news, they were discussing something, something about a gym teacher being arrested in Tokoyo. Teddie noticed and shut off the TV, not wanting to disturb their conversation. Teddie sighed, “He’s always busy isn’t he?” Nanako sighed and nodded. Ever since her brother started college he was always ‘busy’, she barely gets to talk to him, that's why she’s so happy for him to move back. He sighed again and got up, “I'm gonna go make tea, do you want some?” Teddie asked they both nodded.

When Teddie was finally out of earshot when, when Jan snapped her head around to look at Nanako, “Did you see it?” Jan exclaimed.

Nanako was taken back for a moment, “What?”  
Jan sighed, “The midnight channel!”

Nanako leaned in a bit, happy that her friend might have experienced it too. “Yeah, the old man, right?”

“Yeah,” Jan looked surprised that Nanako saw the same thing.

Nanako froze for a bit, wondering if she should say the other part, “Did you hear a voice in your head?”

Jan looked at her confused, “Huh?”

Nanako then recalled the other weird part, “I stuck my arm into the tv.” 

Jan just stared, “What?... Are you okay?” Jan started to laugh, “Is this a joke.”

Nanako suddenly got the overwhelming feeling to prove what happened, she got up without a word and strode over to the tv, it was quite a big tv for a guy who lived off minimum wage. Blocked from Teddie by a wall, she touched the TV, putting a bit more force her whole hand went through. 

Jan stood straight up, “What the fuck!” She yelled.

Teddie obviously heard, calling from behind a wall, “What?”

“Nothing,” Nanako yelled back. Jan walked up to Nanako and tried to push her hand into the tv, but it didn't go through like Nanako’s, so they just stood there in awkward silence. 

“Hm,” Nanako thought for a moment, she leaned down and proceeded to stick her head into the TV, Jan gasped. Nanako looked around, it was just a foggy empty space.

Jan leaned forward a bit. “Hey, wha-” Teddie’s voice made Jan jump, Nanako fell into the TV, Jan grabbed onto her but was unfortunately also dragged into the tv.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come attack me on Tumblr:  
[NikoIsNotOkay](https://friendlywriterboynamedniko.tumblr.com/)


	5. May 3rd Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to everyone is ooc~ because I can't fucking write fanfiction~  
Also to lazy to edit it's been like half a year I feel bad for not updating sooooooo I’ll edit tomorrow

_ Big bro was standing in front of her, he wasn’t looking at her he stared at the snow-covered ground. “Big bro” she called, but he didn’t respond. Hot tears dripped from his eyes landing on the cold snow, melting it. What was wrong? Why was he crying? “Big bro, what's wrong?” she spoke louder this time hoping he would hear her. He swiped his hand across his eyes, ridding his eyes of tears before he looked up from the ground.  _

_ He looked right into her eyes and lied. “I’m fine, Nanako,” His voice quivered as his frown was replaced by a forced smile. It was nothing like the smile he had all those years ago...this was a fake, forced, un-genuine smile. It was the same smile he’s used for the last 4 years. _

_ Why couldn’t big bro smile properly anymore? _

_ “Nanako, I-I’m al-” He couldn’t finish due to tears rolling down his face, “Nana-” _

“-ko!” This voice wasn’t her big bro’s, but it was also an oh so familiar voice. Jan sighed in relief as Nanako opened her eyes. 

“Jan?” Nanako mumbled she looked around at her foggy surroundings, her mind still racing about her strange dream. She couldn’t see much through the fog except the outline of metal beams. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yu watched as the crime scene photographer stuffed her camera back in her bag, she quickly pulled out a cigarette out and lit it, laying her camera bag next to her as she sat on the curb. Dojima stood next to Yu, he was talking about something, but Yu’s mind was somewhere else. “What do you think Yu?”

Yu blinked a couple of times, realizing he hadn’t been paying attention. “Huh?” Yu turned towards his uncle.

Dojima sighed, “I said do you think he was killed the same way as Yamono and Konishi?”

Yu tried to gain back his mental strength to think about Dojima’s question, “Well he was hanging from a telephone pole, but there might be a possibility that this is just another copycat killing.” 

Dojima looked over to Yu as he threw his cigarette down and stomped it out, “But ho-”

“Okay, I got as many witness accounts as I could, Yu~san, Dojima~san,” a  solemn brown-haired girl interrupted Dojima, shoving papers towards them. The young girl was named Ito Akane, she was an intern at the I.P.D. and she apparently had emotions of steel.

Dojima quickly grabbed the papers, skimming the multiple papers, there was quite a bit of information. “Thanks, Ito,” Dojima paused for a second deciding what to say, “And I’m so-”

“It’s fine,” she immediately responded, quickly walking away, probably wanting to avoid an awkward conversation.

Yu shook his head, “Hm.”

“That girl has some guts!” the photographer spoke as she walked up to the two, cigarette hanging out of her mouth. “But god I can’t imagine how recked she is on the inside,” she added, scratching the back of her head. The photographer was named Mahalia Reyes, she was a short Filipino woman who looked young but from what he heard was apparently just a few years younger than Dojima.

“I know, we could really use a detective like her,” Dojima sighed, “too bad she’s going into law.”

Reyes chuckled, “What a waste of guts.”

Yu didn’t listen to the other two’s conversation, he just stared through the rain to the telephone pole with excitement, a smile spread across his face.

The promise is back on.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Where the hell are we?” Jan questioned as her and Nanako’s eyes scanned the area around them. She looked to Nanako, “Weren’t we just in Teddie’s apartment?”

Oh yeah, that’s right? She remembered being in Teddie’s apartment but how did they end up here....Nanako’s eyes went big, “The TV…”

Jan looked over Nanako confused, “What do yo-” Jan’s eyes also widened in realization. “But-but that’s not possible...how...how.” Jan mumbled out.

Nanako spoke again, “Why don’t we figure out where we are first?”

Jan calmed her breathing enough, and nodded.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I’m sorry I can’t stay long, I don’t want to keep Kou waiting,” Chie stated, sliding in the chair across from Yu. Yu’s dinner lay abandoned in front of him, maybe it was from witnessing a murder scene or the building nervousness in him. “What’s up?”

Yu scratched the back of his head, “Um, that murder today, did it seem familiar to you?” Yu asked.

Chie nodded but frowned, “Yeah, but-” Chie sighed breaking eye contact with Yu, she seemed to be thinking hard about something, she continued, “-I don’t-” She cleared her throat, “-want to believe that it’s like the others.”

“Huh?”

Chie sighed again, “Well because if it is like the others, then doesn’t that mean…” she gulps, “Well, Izanami is dead which means she can’t give the TV powers to anyone else, which means…” Chie looks Yu right in the eyes, “That you, Adachi, Namatame, me and the rest of the investigation team are the only ones who have access to the TV world.” Yu nodded as Chie talked, “Adachi is in prison, Namatame is dead, Kanji and Naoto are in England, Rise’s touring, that leaves me, you, Teddie,-” she pauses for a moment, “-...Yukiko and now Yosuke,” Chie sighed, “I wouldn’t want to believe that any of us would do something like this. That’s why I’m gonna consider this not being linked to the TV world until we have a cause of death,” She looked sad suddenly. “I don’t want to lose trust in my friends.”

Yu nodded, “I know, I don't wanna lose trust in you guys either,” Yu sighed poking a piece of beef on his plate. “It’s just th-” *RINNNNNNNG* Yu was interrupted by ringing from Chie’s pocket. Chie pulled her phone out, checking the collar Id. She looked nervously at Yu.

“It’s Kou, I’m sorry I have to answer this.” 

Yu nodded, looking back down to his food. It looks like he needs to fix this on his own.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

”Why is it so foggy?” Jan squinted through the fog, as they walked slowly across the metal grated floor. 

Nanako nodded, ”I can barely see anything...hey, can I hold onto your arm?”

Jan stopped in her tracks, before nodding, ”Uh, sure.” she held out her arm for her friend to grasp.

”Thanks Jan, ” Nanako grasped her friend’s arm happily. They both started to walk, and Nanako could have sworn she saw a hint of red across Jan’s cheeks through the dense fog. 

They tread slowly, not wanting to trip or fall. A couple of moments later they spotted an open door. ”We have no choice, right?” Jan stared nervously at Nanako. Nanako sighed and nodded. The two slowly stepped through the door… The surroundings were hard to make out through the fog, but Nanako could spot several rows of chairs, and a big podium in the back area of the room…

”Is this a courtroom?” Nanako asked squinting through the fog.

Jan nodded, ”Yep, ” Nanako didn't even get a chance to respond before Jan stuttered out: ”It's not like I've been in one before!” Nanako chose to ignore her friend’s nervousness, instead proceeded to drag Jan farther into the room. ”Ah!” Jan let out the noise as Nanako heard a thump, and felt her arm being yanked forward. She looked over, through the fog she could see Jan holding her stomach. Nanako spotted a table in front of Jan, it must have been what Jan bumped into. 

”Huh?” Nanako squinted at the table, it was covered in scattered pieces of paper. Jan still rubbed his stomach as Nanako released Jan’s arm to snatch one of the papers. She squinted hard and brought the paper closer to her eyes, there were several sentences on the paper:  _ ”Hey dad are you coming home tonight?”, ”Riku….I don’t know what to do, Akane won't stop crying, she won't even get up for school.”, ”It's so unfair, dad he already abandoned us...please don't abandon us too.”, ”Tokiko was right, I should have never took this case. nothing like blubbering like an idiot to ruin your career.”, and ”I miss him so much, dad.” _ ...Riku? Akane? Tokiko? Who are these people? Jan leaned over and read the paper too.

”Huh...Riku…” Jan just stared at the paper, as Nanako stared at the paper, making connections. The courtroom... The person writing is talking about taking a certain case… they must be some type of lawyer...the name Riku stuck out to her…. _ the sudden memory of sitting in front of the tv came to her mind. She was 9, it was golden week, Big bro was visiting, dad was out of town attending a trial…a certain trial. Big bro was sitting at the table finishing an essay for his class. She was flipping through channels, when finally she came up on a news channel. They were talking about a murder case, specifically they were talking about the prosecutor for the case...Riku Ito.  _

”Riku Ito, ” Nanako blurted out.

”Huh?” Jan looked to Nanako confused.

Nanako laid the paper down, and tapped her chin, ”Riku Ito, the prosecutor for the Inaba murder case.”

”You think that's the person who wrote this?” Jan asked, grabbing up another paper.

”Well there could be other lawyers or prosecutors named Riku, but Riku Ito was a well-known prosecutor, ” she turned to Jan who was reading another paper.

”Was?” Jan asked not even look up.

Nanako nodded, ”You didn't see the interview a couple of days ago? His career’s been bad ever since he was the prosecutor for the Inaba murder case.”

Jan thought for a moment before looking to Nanako, ”Well the paper did say something about how ’blabbering like an idiot ruined his career’, ” Jan realized.

Nanako stared at the table for a moment before turning to Jan, ”What does that one say?”

Jan shook her head, sighing, ”Just ’No evidence’ over and over again.”

”Hm, ” Nanako took the paper from her friend's hands, Jan was right, ’No evidence’ was scrawled in dark pen all over the paper. ”Why are these here?” Nanako asked.

Jan shrugged, ”It's weird is-huh?” Jan turned suddenly, ”What the hell?” Jan exclaimed looking around.

”What?” Nanako asked, slightly scared by her friend’s strange reaction.

Jan just kept looking before saying, ”Did you hear that?”

”What?” Nanako asked again, growing concerned.

”I thought I heard a growling noise, ” Jan continued to look around.

Nanako sighed, ”That's not funny Jan.”

Jan looked back to Nanako, ”But I'm not jok-” Jan couldn't finish her sentence because suddenly black sludge slid towards them...growling. ”What the hell?!” Jan yelled as they stumbled back Jan hitting the table, Nanako tripped and fell over a chair. The sludge got taller, it shook, and took form, forming into a strange ball….with lips? Nanako just stared, Jan was frozen shaking, her usual fighting personality gone. The ball got closer and closer to Jan...no….no. Something snapped in Nanako’s mind, she had the worst feeling that the strange being was about to hurt her friend. Nanako somehow got to her feet, her head suddenly like it was being split open again, she grabbed her head as she almost screamed in pain. 

_ ”I am thou, thou art I, ”  _ she stumbled forward,  _ ”Thou craves the ability to protect the ones they love, please use my power, ”  _ Nanako panted as the ball creature took a big lick of Jan’s face, ”No!” Nanako yelled, as Jan fell. The ball turned to her.  _ ”Call my name, and release thye’s power!”  _ Nanako landed on her knees.  _ ”I am thou, ”  _ Nanako managed to get up, her knees still weak. ”Thou art I!” she yelled as the pain got worse then….a word came to her mind.

”Per-” she panted, ”-so-” she gasped, ”-na!” the pain went away as she yelled the last syllable. Her brain flooded with relief, as a figure appeared in front of her. A tall beautiful, black-haired female, with white togaish dress… ”Diana?” I asked, the name just came out of nowhere. The bright looking woman stayed quiet and just stood there as if she was waiting for something. ’ _ Command me’  _ The voice said in her mind. Huh? Suddenly another sentence came from my mouth, ”Strike them, Diana!” Nanako yelled. ’Diana’ or the bright-looking woman obeyed immediately, drawing her bow, releasing it, letting the arrow hit the weird ball creature. The creature groaned and dissipated. 

Nanako felt a bit of her energy disappear, she looked down a bit tired before she heard more growling. More black sludge came forward, again transforming into 6 ball type creatures. Nanako looked at them and sighed. She knew she had to protect Jan but taking down one was hard enough. Much to her surprise, the ball creatures didn't go for Jan they went straight towards ’Diana’, one of the creatures suddenly lunged at Diana, attacking her. Weirdly enough Nanako felt pain strike her body. The creatures ganged up on Diana attacking her and attacking her, Nanako screamed as she felt pain everywhere. What the hell was happening? She soon found herself on the floor curled up her body screaming in pain. She tried to call out for Diana to attack but everything hurt so much, her voice just wouldn't come...is she going to die here? She cried a bit as her vision started to blacken.

…………..

”Go, Kamui-Moshiri!” A familiar voice yelled. Suddenly the pain all over the body disappeared. 

”Huh?” Nanako looked up. 

She heard the voice again, ”Bear-sona!” She watched as the Ball-like creatures were hit with some kind of bomb. They all dissipated. Nanako somehow managed to push herself up from the floor and looked around, someone was standing right next to her….”Teddie?” she asked.

Teddie looked at her concerned. ”Are you okay Nana-chan?”

Nanako glanced around more, there was another weird looking creature next to Diana, it looked like a big rainbow bomb. The rainbow bomb creature disappeared a card taking its place, it then floated over to Teddie then disappeared. Diana then also disappeared a card taking her place, this card floated to Nanako instead, and disappeared by her chest area.  _ Nanako has faced her true self and has received the mask: Diana used to face life’s hardships.  _ ”Uh...I guess, ” she felt her stomach churned. ”I do have a bit of a headache, ” She says.

Teddie dug in his pocket, ”Here, ” he says holding out a pair of pink glasses, Nanako stared at them weirdly. She took them anyway and slid them onto her face...huh? The fog completely disappeared, the headache disappeared and turned into total exhaustion. She could now see Teddie’s face clearly, he looked extremely surprised and concerned.

She then asked, ”What just happened?” 

Teddie scratched the back of his head, ”It's not important right now, Nana-chan, first we need get back to my apartment, ” Teddie dodged the question and turned to Jan. Who had her eyes open just starting in front her. 

”Uh-uh-uh, ” Jan was at a loss for words.

Nanako ran over to her friend, ”Jan are you okay?”

Jan nodded but then started at the other two, ”What the hell just happened?”

Teddie spoke up again, ”Please, I said I'll explain later, we need to leave!” Nanako and Jan nodded. Nanako offered a hand, Jan grasped it, Nanako tried to use a lot of her strength to pull her friend up. Eventually, Jan was standing on shaking legs. 

\--------------------

”Isn’t this where we entered?” Jan asked looking around the weird platform. Teddie nodded, before stomping one foot 3 times. Jan and Nanako flinched as a heavy weight hit the platform, Nanako looked to the middle to see three tv’s stacked on top of each other. Jan stared at them for a second…”Thats the exit isn't it?”

”Yep!” Tessie answered, gesturing for them to go first. Nanako released her grip on Jan causing Jan to almost fall. 

”Sorry, ” Nanako apologized, but her friend shook her head and stabilized herself. 

”Ladies first, ” Teddie said.

”So we just climb into them?” Nanako asked, Teddie nodded. Nanako looked forward and pushed onto the screen causing a ripple on the screen. She held her breath as she plunged herself through the Tv.

\------------

”Ah, ” Nanako fell onto the apartment floor. Jan soon fell out almost on top of her, Teddie followed soon after, landing on his feet.

Jan groaned and stood up. ”Ugh, I feel like I'm gonna puke.”

”Oh I'm sorry, I was going to give you glasses so that wouldn't happen, but I only had one spare, ” Teddie apologized.

Nanako soon stood up too, ”Huh?” 

Teddie gestured towards the couch, ”Please sit, I'll explain everything.” Nanako happily collapsed onto the couch, still exhausted. Jan plopped down next to her. Teddie paced for a couple of minutes before turning to the two. ”So that place inside the Tv is...another world, ” Teddie stated, as if it wasn't weird. Nanako and Jan stared him, ”...It's also my world.”

”Huh?” Nanako was confused, Teddie is not from this world? 

”Now as for the thing that you summoned and Kamui-Moshiri, those things are personas, ” Teddie explained.

”What?” Nanako asked, probably even more confused.

”I can't really explain it that well, but there the mask you wear on the outside, ” He tried to explain.

”Huh?” Yep, she's definitely getting even more confused.

”Well the person who explained it to me could explain better but….that's the best I can do…” Teddie sighed. 

”What about the room?” Jan suddenly asked.

”Well, ” Teddie scratched the back of his head. ”When someone is forcibly thrown in…the world creates a reality for them, ” Teddie seemed sad.

”Where is the person then, are they still in there?” Jan asked.

Teddie sighed, ”Judging by the fog last night...they’re probably dead.”

”What!?” They both shout out in unison. Jan then suddenly remembered something, ”Was that the cri-” The phone in Nanako's pocket started ringing, she grabbed the phone. Her dad was calling, she took a quick glance at the time on the top of the screen: 10:00…. Oh no. 

”How is it 10 already?” Nanako exclaimed as she answered the phone. ”Dad?”

”Do you know what time it is?” he asks, he sounds a bit irritated.

”Yeah.”

”....”

”....”

”Come home right now, ” he demands. 

”Okay, ” she sighs and hangs up. ”Well I guess I have to go, can we talk about this tomorrow Teddie?”

Tessie nods, ”Of course, oh and don't tell anyone about what happened, especially Sensai.”

Nanako thought the ’Especially Sensai’ part was weird, why did he specifically tell her not to tell big bro? Nanako nods, then looks to Jan, ”You going too?” 

Jan stares at the TV, ”I think I'm just gonna sit here for a bit...just to comprehend what just happened.”

\------------

Nanako yawned, as she shut the door, she was so tired, sore, and confused. She heard her dad’s voice sighing, ”Finally.” 

She really didn't want to get lectured right now, she just wanted to collapse into bed and sleep for days. She slowly walked into the living room, surprisingly it was just her dad, Big Bro must still be at the station. ”Hello, ” is all she said as she stood in front of him.

”Why were you coming home so late?” her dad finally asked.

Excuses. Excuses. ”Oh I fell asleep at Teddie’s.” It's partly true.

Her dad sighed, ”Okay, but next time this happens your grounded.” Nanako nodded just wanting to get out of this conversation so she can sleep, but she was a little surprised by his threat. 1st of all her dad always hesitated to punish her...probably because she was his only child, and 2nd Nanako really didn't do anything to require him to punish her, she was a good kid. ”I have to go, but I'll try to be home for dinner tomorrow, ” he went up to Nanako, giving her a smile and a shoulder squeeze.  _ He was never a hug person.  _

She quickly walked through the hallway to her room, collapsing onto her mat.

\---------

Her vision was surrounded by blue, when her eyes finally focused she noticed she was in the strange blue room again. ”Welcome to the Velvet Room, ” Igor greeted. ”It seems you have entered your contract.” The man smiled, ”I have summoned you here to talk about bonds.” he looks to Theodore.

”Throughout your journey, you will meet several people which you will be able to form bonds with, ” Theodore started explaining. ”These bonds are called ’Social Links’, these social links will help make your power even stronger.” 

I looked at the grey-haired boy, confused. Victor noticed, ”Pardon me, but let me simplify it, the more people you make friends with the more powerful your persona will be.” Theodore nodded at the words. 

”So make sure to strengthen your bonds as much as you can, ” Theodore added.

”For now, farewell, ” Igor said, as her consciousness started fading back in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come attack me on Tumblr:  
[NikoIsNotOkay](https://friendlywriterboynamedniko.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Come attack me on Tumblr:  
[NikoIsNotOkay](https://friendlywriterboynamedniko.tumblr.com/)


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